The Loyalty of Wolves
by TyrantWaffles
Summary: Stephanie is a girl from California on her way to London for vacation with her family. Her plane was caught in an unexpected storm and crashed. At least, that's what she thought. When she wakes up, she finds herself alone in the middle of the forest in a foreign country with no sign that there was even a crash. Her phone isn't working and the first person she meets is "Robin Hood."


**Hey, this is just a little heads-up: I haven't published anything in a long time even though I've been writing a lot. I often get stuck on one part of a story, so I stop and it takes me a really long time to start writing more of it. I apologize in advance for not updating regularly. Also, I haven't proof read this yet so I there will probably be mistakes. I'll fix it before I post the next chapter, but if you do catch anything wrong, please tell me.**

It was supposed to be a long trip from San Francisco to London. The plane had stopped in Canada and Stephanie had to wait two more hours for her next flight that was a non-stop trip to London. She wasn't planning on doing anything very special in the United Kingdom; she just wanted to visit. Stephanie had been there once before with her parents when she was ten, almost a decade ago. Her parents were already in London, waiting for her to meet them. They had gone ahead of her because she'd had to take her finals before she left.

Now, Stephanie was on her own for another seven hours until the plane would finally land in London. She kept herself entertained by reading _A Song of Ice and Fire_ by George R.R. Martin and glancing out the windows every so often, although she couldn't see much since she had an aisle seat. But at least sitting next to the aisle allowed her much better restroom access. She didn't want to use her phone until they landed, just in case her parents hadn't gotten to the airport or were in the wrong place. She wanted to make sure she had enough battery.

She was glad she had thought to bring her jacket with her on the plane; it was freezing even after she turned off her air-jet. Unfortunately, the people sitting around her kept theirs on and she kept getting blasted with cold, dry air, even though it raining pretty heavily outside. Stephanie much preferred warm, humid air; she just hated all the bugs that shared her love.

Stephanie heard one of the flight attendants say that they were finally over the British Isles. Stephanie shifted in her seat. She figured that they would land very soon and she was very grateful. She'd been paranoid for hours because of the storm outside. The wind shook the plane ever few minutes and though it wasn't the first time she'd been in this situation, she knew very well that a little gust of wind could do a lot of bad to a plane either by physically damaging it or steering it off course.

Breathing a quiet sigh as another gust of wind shook the cabin, she put up her tray and bent down to stow away her book. When she finished, she gently nudged her backpack under the seat in front of her and stretched her legs as much as she could in the tiny space without disturbing her neighbors. Stephanie shoved her hands into her jacket pockets in a futile attempt to warm them.

She fiddled with the objects she had kept in each pocket. Her right held her iPhone and a pen that had a flashlight on the end. It was a nifty little trinket her mother had given her from some conference she'd gone to. Her left pocket held the ear-buds for her phone and a pink EOS lip balm. Stephanie was never one to wear any type of makeup, mostly because she was so inexperienced with it that she was afraid of messing up, but she did like most lip glosses and lipsticks. She especially liked the little round egg-shaped EOS lip balm because even if her hand slipped, no one would notice and it kept her lips from chapping. Not to mention she loved the scents.

Stephanie was just beginning to relax again when the entire cabin suddenly shook violently, surprising even the flight attendants. There were many surprised gasps and yells and a few cries of small children as everyone was suddenly jostled roughly in their seats. Many were thrown face-first into the seat in front of them, including Stephanie. She couldn't move for several seconds because of the shock but when she could, she hastily sat upright, rubbing her nose which had suffered most in the collision.

Her heart began to beat rapidly and her breathing became unsteady as she quickly realized that the plane was no longer flying straight. Instead, it was falling steadily to the ground. Stephanie watched in terror and confusion as a few flight attendants tried helping a woman who had hit the tray on the seat in front of her too hard and was bleeding. Stephanie couldn't tell how bad it was but she figured it didn't matter based on what she assumed was about to happen.

A sob escaped her throat as she realized that she was going to die. What would her parents do? Her brother? Her friends? She saw them all in her mind's eye. They were at her funeral. Her mother was sobbing hysterically, her father bent over and unable to contain his wretched sorrow. Michael, her older brother couldn't look as they buried her coffin. Leslie was sobbing into her hands and Robin had his arm around her, tears streaming from his eyes. She couldn't picture anyone else's reaction to her death.

She didn't want to die, not yet. She was only seventeen years old. She was sure Fate was laughing at her. Suddenly, as quickly as the fear came, it turned into a flood of rage. Stephanie _refused_ to die in an airplane crash. She cursed whatever fate had decided this. No. No, she would not allow this. She was too stubborn to die now. She was going to die when she was old and gray, not when she had her whole life ahead of her, not when she hadn't even finished high school.

Another sudden jerk of the plane had Stephanie ramming into the seat in front of her again. This time her vision blurred and all she could think was that this was a pathetic way to die before she finally fainted.

She was conscious. She was _alive_. Stephanie couldn't yet open her eyes but she was sure she wasn't badly injured. She couldn't smell fire or anything burning like she assumed she would. And she was lying face-down on something hard, lumpy, and damp.

Stephanie opened her eyes despite the discomfort and what she saw astounded her. Or rather, what she _didn't see_ astounded her. She could easily figure out that she was in a forest and that she was laying on the dead leaves that covered the dirt. But what Stephanie couldn't fathom was the fact that she was completely alone and didn't see any sort of debris anywhere. There was nothing to suggest that anything or anyone had been nearby, let alone a decimated airplane that held hundreds of passengers.

Carefully, she sat up and turned around, finding that although there was no sign of any injuries, she was very sore. Stephanie checked her pockets and found that her belongings were still there and that nothing had fallen out. She looked down at herself. Her jacket, dark jeans, and faux-leather boots were all covered in leaves and dirt. Slowly, Stephanie rose to her feet and brushed off as much forest debris as she could before eventually giving up and looking around. As she looked around, she tried to comb her shoulder-length brown hair with her fingers and get any leaves out.

Tall trees that she didn't know the names of surrounded her. All she could see in every direction were trees. Stephanie looked up to the sky, knowing that it was possible to track the time of day and direction to travel by using the sun. She noticed that it wasn't all the way in the sky, although she could see perfectly well. She assumed it was late morning by the chill in the air and the smell. Unfortunately, she had no idea how accurate that assumption was, considering the only thing that school taught her to do with the sun was figure out how tall something was by measuring it's shadow and comparing it to a ruler's. A ruler wasn't going to help her find her way to a town. So Stephanie did what any rational person would do in her situation. Pick a random direction and walk.

Realizing that her cell phone would help a lot, Stephanie brought it out of her pocket and turned it on. She cringed at the bright apple icon that appeared and practically blinded her. It seemed as though when you turned on an iPhone it automatically changes its brightness to the highest possible setting. And it took forever to turn on.

She quickly typed her passcode and during the second it took to unlock after she correctly typed the passcode, she noticed the time. Stephanie thought her eyes were playing tricks on her but when her phone went to the Home screen, the time still read "12:00 AM" and she looked back up at the sky. No way was it midnight. Stephanie checked the Compass app but it just said "ERROR".

"Crap," she whined pitifully to herself. It started to sink in that she was hopelessly lost and had no way of knowing if she was headed in the right direction or not. She exhaled shakily and fought off the tears that threatened to leak. Crying wasn't going to solve her problems.

Stephanie set her phone to airplane mode so that it wouldn't waste too much battery searching for a signal and then stuffed it back into her jacket. She would just have to keep walking until she found a road or something.

It was several minutes later that Stephanie realized that she was starting to get thirsty. The brunette once again scanned the area as she walked but found no signs of anything that would prove to be useful to her. She ran a hand through her hair in frustration and despair. How long would it take to find a road? Did she land in some wildlife preserve or park? How big was this damn forest?

Stephanie almost shouted out loud in celebration when she came across a stream an hour or so later. Grinning triumphantly, she hurried to the edge and examined the water. It was fast-moving and mostly clear, but she decided she didn't want to risk drinking it without boiling it first. The teen decided that she would rest for a bit before she would follow the current.

Stephanie sat on the flattest nearby rock and stared into the water. She had always found water to be mesmerizing, even the shallow puddles on the cement after the rain. She didn't know exactly what the allure to water was, but being able to watch it made her happy, excited even. But not rushing water that was moving so fast that you couldn't see into it even if you tried. Stephanie enjoyed staring into translucent water. Perhaps she enjoyed it so much because it made her imagination spark a wildfire.

Content, Stephanie dipped her finger in the water, only to retract it a few seconds later when her finger went numb from the cold. Well, she was in England. At least, she assumed she was in England. Stephanie looked up and took the time to really drink in what she was seeing. Rocks of varying sizes framed the stream as it flowed downhill, surrounded but hundreds of tall trees. She listened to the birds communicate with each other and the water run over the pebbles and mud at the bottom of the stream. On the other side, Stephanie spotted a rock larger than the others. It was a boulder, really and it reminded her of the many boulders in Yosemite. She wanted to see if she could climb it as she could many others.

Brushing herself off once more, Stephanie stood and looked for a way to get across the water without getting wet. She found a place where the stream was narrower and seemed to be about jumping distance. Unfortunately it was also deeper, so if she were to miss she'd fall into knee-deep freezing water.

Unable to contain her smile as the adrenaline rushed through her veins, Stephanie stepped back several feet in order to get a running start. She took a few deep breaths, making sure her feet were well-placed. She bent her knees to get lower and when she was ready, she took off at a sprint. She ran for a total of three seconds but as her legs raced, so did her mind. She almost panicked when she thought she might not jump off on the right foot. In reality, it didn't matter which foot she used to jump but that made no difference in her mind. She ended up jumping off with her left foot, making it awkward for a split second before Stephanie shut off her distracting thoughts and focused on whether or not she would land in the water.

When her right foot hit the soggy ground, followed closely by her right, she allowed her smile to stretch into a grin. The brunette waited to absorb the shock from landing before she went over to inspect the boulder. Stephanie tried it out.

The young climber hung on for about four seconds before she had to let go of the rock. She huffed and moved more to the right, inspecting the surface more closely. She tried a second and third time, grunting the whole while. On her third, she tried jumping up from a foothold to get to the next handhold and missed. The fourth time, she didn't and was able to pull her top half up. Her body scraped against the hard boulder and felt as if it would leave bruises. She then started kicking out and wriggling to bring the rest of her torso onto the top of the boulder. From then on, it was easy to bring her legs up underneath her and stand.

She sighed triumphantly and looked out at the horizon. Well, she tried to. She still couldn't see over the trees. Tired from her climb, Stephanie sat atop the boulder to rest. The most painful part would be getting down.

Just as soon as Stephanie sat, a whistle caught her attention and she turned her head to face the first human contact in what seemed like forever to her. There were three of them, all men wearing old, medieval-period clothing. The man in the middle, obviously the oldest with his gray hair reminded her of a bear. He held a large wooden stick, possibly a staff of some kind. The men on either side of him were younger. The one on the Stephanie's right held a bow and arrow, ready to raise and shoot if he needed. His hair was perhaps a dark blond or light brown and stubble covered his jaw, neck, and mouth. He looked to be the youngest of the trio and the most attractive to her. The third man reminded Stephanie of a mouse. His dark hair, nose, and eyes stuck out but the rest of his features went mostly unnoticed as her eyes were drawn to the sword he held in his hand. All three men were looking up at her expectantly. She stared back at them warily, unsure of their purpose.

"Hello," the handsome one greeted pleasantly, accent present in his speech. Stephanie glanced around them, trying to see if anyone else was around.

"Uh, hi," Stephanie replied, trying to be polite but unsure of these strangers. The mouse man scrunched his face when she spoke.

"Where are you from?" the mouse-like man asked, taking in her appearance.

"California," she answered hesitantly, glancing to each man in turn and studying their reactions. They all looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders and shook their heads.

The youngest man addressed Stephanie again, looking genuinely curious, "I apologize, but I've never heard of California. Where is it?"

"West," she answered easily. California was very far west from where they were. "Far west."

"You're heading east," he pointed out, leaning on his bow. He looked very amused.

"That's because I have no idea where I'm going." The two younger men chuckled at her statement while the other man grunted in amusement.

"That's quite an honest answer," the man with the bow teased.

Stephanie shrugged. "I don't really see the point in lying…" she was about to say more about not being able to leave the forest but then remembered that she was talking to a group of strange men possibly LARPing in a seemingly very secluded forest.

"Would you like help down from there?"

"No thanks, I kinda like it up here." No way was she going to climb down when three men who could easily over-power her were around.

"Could I perhaps join you then?" he asked, smirking flirtatiously.

"Sorry, only room for one," she lied. The man raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to not lying?" he teased.

"I found a reason to lie."

"And that would be?"

"My mother warned me about strange men."

"And women," she added as an afterthought, "But mostly men."

He shrugged his shoulders, "Your mother is wise." Then he smiled again. "What would you do if we tried to climb up anyway?"

Stephanie smirked as she spoke, "I would kick you down."

He laughed at her again. "What is your name?"

"What's yours?" she fired back.

He grinned knowingly as he spoke, "My name is Robin Hood and these are my friends," he gestured to the gray man and the other in turn, "Little John and Allan A Dale." Yes, they were definitely doing something along the lines of LARPing. Stephanie raised an incredulous eyebrow at them as they all continued to stare at her expectantly. "So?" Robin asked. "I told you who we are. What is your name?"

"Stephanie," she answered. "And obviously, I'm not participating in whatever LARP or reenactment that is taking place, so could you just point me in the direction of wherever the nearest Wi-Fi access is?"

"What?" Allan squawked, gawking at her as if she had grown another head. The other two men wore very similar expressions. Stephanie admired their acting skills. Their outfits and weapons looked genuine, as well.

It seemed she would need to play along at least partly in order to get their cooperation. She pressed her lips together in thought of how to word her question. "Where is the closest town?"

Allan and Little John shared a look but before they could say anything, Robin answered her. "The closest town would be Nottingham. We'll be glad to take you there." The two shot Robin warning looks. The outlaw didn't need to look at them to see the glares he was receiving. Instead, he excused himself and his friends to speak privately.

"Robin, no!" Little John whispered, so that Stephanie wouldn't be able to hear.

"We can't go to Nottingham," Allan agreed, "Look, I'm not being funny, this could be another one o' the Sheriff's tricks!" The young outlaw smiled and shook his head.

"I don't think so, Allan. This girl is lost; look at her!" He waved a hand in her direction for emphasis. They all glanced at her form, sitting on the boulder. Her clothes were strange and none of them could tell what materials they were made of. Her jacket was a dull grayish-green color, mostly and the stitchings and threads looked perfectly align and straight. Her hands were stuffed in the front pockets, but she seemed to also have a pocket on each breast. And strange designs decorated her sleeves, including what looked like metal. Stephanie sat with her legs stretched out in front of her as she stared down at the water below her, allowing her brown hair to fall in her face.

"Have you ever seen someone who wears clothes like that?" Robin continued. Allan and John shook their heads. "Exactly. And I've never heard of a place called California before. She must be very far away from home by now. Are we to just leave her here, lost in the woods to starve? Or worse, if Guy or the Sheriff were to find her, she would definitely be captured." The two remained silent for a moment. Allan stole another glance at the strange girl just as she brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and behind her ear.

"Oi," he said quickly, lightly whacking Little John's arm to catch his attention. He pointed to Stephanie. "Look at 'er ear," he told the other men, "An' 'er nails were purple an' she was wearin' rings." The trio once again stared at the lost teenager. They could see that her ears were pierced with silver hoops but she hand returned her hand to its pocket, denying any more looks to it.

"Perhaps she belongs to a wealthy family in California," Robin suggested. "That might explain the clothes and the jewelry." He bit his lip in thought. "But why would her nails be purple?" he wondered out loud.

"Maybe she's a witch," Allan threw in.

"I doubt it."

Allan scoffed. "What, 'cause she's pretty? It could be a spell. She could really be an ugly ol' hag."

Robin sighed dramatically. "Look, she mentioned something about a reenactment. Reenactment of what?" When his fellows had no answer, Robin continued his point. "I think she's just as confused about us as we are about her. Perhaps if we bring her to Nottingham, we'll all get our answers." He looked to his men for their approval. Allan was more reluctant than Little John but eventually nodded his head.

When the trio returned their attention back to the female stranger, they found her to be looking at them expectantly. Robin smiled reassuringly at her. "Ready to go, Stephanie?" he asked.

Stephanie shrugged nonchalantly, though she was screaming in her head, absolutely terrified that these strangers might try something. "Sure." Carefully, she stood back up and stepped slowly toward the edge of the boulder. She looked down at the face of the rock to calculate the best way down. Sitting back down with her legs hanging over the edge, Stephanie cautiously lowered one foot to put her weight on. She kept her hands clutching steadfast to the rock as she maneuvered herself and Robin saw that her nails were indeed a purple color and that she did wear two rings of silver, although they were both very different in design.

"Would you like some assistance?" Robin called when she seemed to be stuck after not moving for several moments.

Stephanie didn't take her eyes off the face of the rock as she pursed her lips before replying, "Possibly." She could get down easily enough if necessary; it was just less painful if she had help.

Little John stepped up and passed his stick to Allan. John braced himself as he held out his arms to catch her. Stephanie hesitated another second before launching herself off the rock. The larger man caught her with a grunt and gently set her down on the flat ground. The girl raised her head to look at the man in the eye and thank him. He nodded in response. Stephanie felt only slightly less wary of the bigger man.

"You're welcome," he answered. She gave him a small smile and followed the trio as they led her back into the forest.

They must have been deep in the woods because it took what felt like hours to finally reach the dirt road that led up to what seemed to be a castle. By that time, Stephanie was parched but she refused to voice her troubles. Instead, she focused on the scenery. She swallowed her saliva in a vain attempt to quench her thirst. It only made her throat feel a stab of pain.

Allan noticed Stephanie's discomfort as he lifted his waterskin to his lips for a drink. She stole a glance at him, more specifically at his waterskin but quickly averted her eyes. Allan wiped his mouth and held it out to her. Stephanie caught the movement from the corner of her eye and looked up in surprise.

"Here," he offered, "It's water." Stephanie hesitated for only a second before gingerly accepting it and taking a drink. She tried not to take too much, only enough to soothe the pain in her throat. When she was done with it she handed it back and thanked him. He nodded his head at her in acknowledgment in the same manner Little John had earlier.

"We're almost to Nottingham," Robin spoke up, gaining the attention of his three companions.

"How exactly do you plan for us to get in?" Allan asked, skeptically. Stephanie's suspicions grew at his question. Surely this wasn't supposed to be part of their reenactment? But then again, if they were pretending to be Robin Hood and his Merry Men, it would only fit that they take her to "Nottingham". Stephanie leaned forward to get a better view and saw that there were guards wearing very realistic chainmail armor and holding sharp-looking weapons.

A lump was starting to form in her throat and nervousness boiled in her stomach. She didn't pay any attention to what the three men around her were saying. Something just felt so off and her rational mind was telling her that she was just imagining it. That everything was fake and she would get passed those scary-looking guards and it will just be a regular town with perhaps a bunch of people dressed up.

"Stephanie."

The teenager practically jumped out of her skin at the sound of her name. She blinked her eyes to rid her mind of her previous thoughts as she turned to the man who had addressed her. Stephanie found herself staring into the clearest pair of blue eyes she had ever met and she was almost blinded, though not because they gave her some sort of revelation or that they were too beautiful to look at. Instead, it was because they were so pale that they seemed to reflect the sun's light so much that it hurt to look at them. The only other time she'd been in a similar discomfort was during P.E. in school when she and her peers were forced to wear T-Shirts and gym shorts. Stephanie almost never wore anything shorter than capris, embarrassed by her legs, which meant that they never tanned and were so pale they reflected light harshly.

Those pale eyes belonged to Allan A Dale who was giving her a look that told her she had missed something. Stephanie looked to the faces of the other two men in question. Robin sighed and Stephanie worried that the men around her thought her daft. Robin repeated his words for her.

"We will have to be careful," he started with a warning, "You must wear this over your clothes." He handed Stephanie his cloak. "I mean no offense; however, your clothing is a bit…eye-catching and it's better if we are not noticed." Robin continued to explain what they were going to do. They would just keep an eye on her to make sure she was alright until she found what she was looking for, although none of the men knew what that would be. Stephanie, herself had been losing her certainty bit by bit since she had first met these men not that long ago. But she nodded anyway, with a look of calm on her face that masked the indecision and reluctance she felt on the inside that kept gradually growing. Nothing felt right.

She realized that she was scared to pass through those gates, but why should she? Well, she had woken up after a plane crash to find no visible injuries on her body, no plane, no debris, and no sign of any other passengers—surviving or dead—in the middle of an unknown forest in a foreign country. And the first people she met had appeared out of nowhere, wearing clothes that reminded her of the Middle Ages and had been giving her suspicious looks every thirty seconds or so, as if they had never before seen a girl dressed in jeans, fake leather boots, and an army-green canvas jacket.

Why was all of this such a big deal? All Stephanie wanted since the moment she arrived at the airport the morning of her first flight was to be with her parents and get on with their vacation. Although ever since she met this group of men, she just wanted to wake up from this strange dream and be home. To wake up warm and dry in her own bed, eat or drink whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. Stephanie hadn't used a toilet since the plane and though it wasn't worrying now, her bladder would soon become a problem and she was reluctant to use the forest.

Robin could see the uncertainty in her eyes. He could see that she was scared and confused, though she was trying her best to hide it. He thought it was because it was finally dawning on her how very lost she was. He was willing to allow her to join him and his friends, but if she wished not to live in the forest, he would try to find someone to take her in. Perhaps Matilda would be willing to take her in. She had a daughter around her age. But that would all come later; first, they needed to keep watch over the girl and make sure she did not receive any trouble.

Sneaking in was relatively easy, considering they do it so often, but Robin could sense hesitation from Stephanie and knew that he had to make sure she would stay reassured. All four of them had pulled their hoods up, but it was only Robin who was constantly at her side. Little John and Allan were on the lookout for any potential trouble.

Stephanie had tensed up the second they entered the town and had not relaxed since. It was market day and all the commotion made the girl stop in her tracks and look around with wide eyes. Robin gently nudged her to start walking again, though it was kept at a rather slow pace. He did not mind the pace when he saw the look in her eyes. She was torn.

The second Stephanie had laid eyes upon the crowd, she knew. Everything was authentic. It was real. At first, she refused to believe it. There had to be some modern influence in this reenactment. But this wasn't a reenactment and there was no modern or even recently post-modern technology that she detected. The reason why her cell phone wasn't working was because Wi-Fi didn't exist, computers didn't exist, hell by the smell in the air, she guessed that even _toilets_ didn't exist. And she wasn't supposed to be here. How was she here, then? What if she got sick? In this time period, even a simple cold could kill you if you didn't properly take care of yourself. What would happen if she died here?

She would never go home.

That thought was the most disturbing of them all. Even if she somehow got to London, Stephanie highly doubted that her parents were there, in this time period. She would probably never see them again. Or her brother, or any of her friends. All she had left of them were a few photos on her phone, but she wouldn't even be able to look at them forever. The battery only had a limited charge to it and would eventually die, never to blind her with its light again.

Stephanie's throat tightened and she could feel tears threatening to show and the sobs start building. Robin must have noticed because she was suddenly being led away from the crowd. Once they were alone, Stephanie slapped a hand over her mouth just in time to block the sound of a sob from escaping her throat. She soon found that one hand wasn't enough and used the other to block any sound from escaping or any air to flow through her nose. She could do nothing about her tears. They flowed freely for anyone to see until Robin pulled her into his arms in an attempt to comfort her. She didn't even care that he smelled. If they had not been out in public with many people around to see and hear her, she might have stopped fighting herself and let the sobs wrack her body and escape her lips. But she was too self-conscious for that to happen at the moment.

One pitiful, wretched sob escaped her hands as she took a breath. She felt spit fly from her mouth and she was only embarrassed further. She could feel her face had contorted and heated, no doubt she must be a hideous sight. Robin's grip only tightened as he rubbed her back.

It was that one painful sob that broke Robin Hood's heart. Even though he didn't know exactly what was going on in the poor girl's head, he had a good idea. The emotion he sensed from her one sob reminded him of the day both he and Guy had become orphans. Robin sensed that she must've realized that she too has lost her previous life, that she was wayward and utterly alone. Something about the market told her this and he had to know what.

But first, he would let the girl calm down and then they could all go back to the camp. She would explain there what had happened.

Just as it seemed as though she was finally calming down, an urgent voiced called his name in warning. "Robin!" It was Little John, followed closely by Allan. "It's Gisborne!"

The infamous outlaw looked in the direction his companions had come from and saw that Guy of Gisborne was indeed present. And he just so happened to glance up in their direction and the two made eye contact. He watched Gisborne's momentary shock quickly change to urgency and confidence. Robin turned to his men and Stephanie to tell them to run the same time that Gisborne called for guards to capture them.

"Run!" Robin shouted, grabbing Stephanie's hand and running as fast as he could without leaving her behind. She was taken by surprise at first and stumbled but recovered quickly and sped up to run beside him. Robin dropped her hand, satisfied that she could follow them on her own.

"Don't let them escape!" Gisborne shouted at the guards as he charged at the group, shoving any unlucky civilians out of his way.

Stephanie had no idea what was going on but she guessed that this was the reason why Allan and Little John were so reluctant to come to Nottingham. She followed them as closely as possible, terrified of what would happen if she didn't. The tear stains on her face were cold as she ran because of the wind whipping at her face. She barely registered Robin slowing to nock an arrow and shoot it at something or someone. She heard aggravated grunts and shouts a second later. She dared not turn her head back, although the urge was great. She was already lagging and knew if she looked, she might slow down more and if she slowed down even a little bit more, she would be caught.

Already, Stephanie's legs were tired and a pain flared in her ankle that was probably the result of climbing the boulder earlier. Suddenly, she was grabbed from the side but she couldn't cry out because whoever grabbed her had covered her mouth with a hand. A gloved hand.

Without thinking, she jerked her head out of its hold and bit down on the leather bound hand as hard as she could and twisted her head like a wild animal with a piece of meat. Her captor let out a roar of pain that caught the attention of the three men she'd come to Nottingham with.

"Gisborne!" Robin shouted in a rage when he caught sight of them. Stephanie's human restraint, apparently named "Gisborne" moved his arm to hold her by the shoulders and kept a firm grip as he forced her in the opposite direction.

Robin watched as Stephanie struggled in a futile attempt to free herself from Gisborne's hold. But the man in black was too strong and easily overpowered her. He watched as Gisborne sent him a dark smirk, thinking that he had won as the outlaws were surrounded by guards. They had no choice to flee, but they would be back. They wouldn't leave a defenseless girl to fend for herself against the Sheriff and Gisborne.


End file.
